The Essential Things

On September 30, 2013 I started angry quilting. The federal government was about to shut down and take my city paycheck with it.

On January 25, 2015 I finally finished that angry quilt. A DC flag on the front and 51 stars on the back.

A lot has changed in the year and some change it took me to finish this quilt. The government is back on its feet (kinda), I’ve left DC and moved to a place where my vote actually matters (again, kinda), and there’s been a changeover in majority leadership for the senate. But the one thing that hasn’t changed is DC’s lack of self-determination, in fact Republican senators from Maryland and Pennsylvania even attempted to block a measure passed by DC voters to decriminalize marijuana.

Living outside of the DMV I’ve realized just how rare it is to hear about DC issues. There have been at least 2 potential government shut-down deadlines in the past year and if I hadn’t been paying attention to NPR, I never would have heard about them. Before DC voting rights were like a persistent hum- always there even if they weren’t actively being talked about. But now? It’s easy to see how the majority of people have no idea that there is an issue, let alone care about it.

This quilt is headed back to DC to live with my friend Laura. Laura was one of my first friends in DC, and one of the few from that time period that sees DC as its own entity, not just an extension of the federal government. The quilt will be well loved and worn out up there. Meanwhile, I’m going to send my Georgia senator another letter about DC statehood.

Woodland Animals who are Over Your Bullshit

Self explanatory? I think so.

I’m working on round two right now. Can you think of any bullshit woodland animals are over? Let me know in the comments…

Black Flag Baby

Bridgid was my first mentor in the library. I spent a month working under her tutelage, learning the ropes of story times, planning programs for after school, how to nicely kick the people eating food off of the computers and how to firmly say “no, get out” when a dude at the desk wants your number and just won’t take no for an answer.

As a mentor, she was patient and encouraging, always found the positive and  was oh so generous with her time.

As a librarian for the kids at her branch she was also kind and patient, she worried about their home lives and made sure they were taken care of at the library while still making sure they followed the rules. That’s a tough line to toe and Bridgid is a master at it.

As a friend though, Bridgid truly shines. Even after I left her branch she made sure we got together regularly: early morning breakfasts before shifts started, movies dates and librarian’s night out with other fantastic colleagues. She’s the girl you want singing kareokee with you at 1:00 AM, encouraging all the bad choices you’re about to make. She’s funny, irreverent, a little bit naughty and so, so thoughtful.

As soon as Bridgid told me she and her husband were adopting a baby, I started planning their quilt. In addition to all the things that make her a fantastic librarian, mentor and friend, Bridgid is also one of the most punk rock people I know. So of course her baby’s quilt had to pay tribute to one of the best punk bands of all time.

And the back?

Bridgid and I first met in an early literacy workshop where we were training to be parent educators. We learned the ends and out of early brain development, got hints on how to encourage parents and caregivers to sing and play with their little ones, and sang Hickory Dickory Dock so many times I still have an adverse reaction when I think about it.

The back of the quilt plays into early childhood development in a pretty big way. Infants can only recognize black and white (and red, but that quilt would have gotten macabre pretty quickly) and large graphic shapes. Both of these things stimulate the baby’s brain and helps strengthen those synapse connections that are oh-so-important. Instead of a crib quilt this is a play quilt, meant for belly time and changing tables, stroller rides and library play time.

I started this quilt in 2013 and finally dug it out in January to finish it. Bridgid and her husband are still waiting on their baby, but soon (hopefully) they’ll get to meet their child. And when they do, they’ll be the best parents ever.

So I Won’t Be Afraid

I’ve been working on this quilt for a long time. The first drawing I have of it is in a notebook from March of 2014, but I’d been refining it in my mind for much longer.

The Mountain Goats are my favorite band- Spotify says I’ve listened to them more than any other artist in the past year. And this, this is my favorite song.

It’s a song about faith, and mine has been on shaky ground for a while. I’m not so sure about my relationship with God right now, but I do have faith in faith, and that’s good enough for now.

Most of the letters were pieced during the Little League World Series, which I watched obsessively this year, cheering for Jackie Robinson West after accidentally catching one of their games on a flight. It was the single happiest stretch of time I had in 2014 and so running my fingers over the letters- from the freaking beautiful Just My Type pattern by Quiet Play– always makes me smile.

I put the quilt to the side for a few months to prepare for the ICE Craft Fair and then picked it up again just in time to finish it before 2014 ran out- the less said about the painstaking hand quilting process (my first and probably last hand quilted baby) the better.  But it was my mission to finish this quilt before 2015 and I am glad that I did: this is a very 2014 quilt, made specifically for 2014 feelings.

I’m still processing the last year and I think I will be for a while. For now I’m just hoping for a more gentle 2015. And with The Mountain Goats coming through Savannah in April, I think the year is off to a good start.